Bioshock Xbox 360 Review

Upon returning from my holidays in the August of 2007, I was greeted by a parcel. After opening It I was pleased to discover that it was the limited edition of Bioshock, a story driven First person shooter from Irrational Games (creators of the hugely popular System Shock series).

I hadn't played the previous System Shock games, so I was unaware of what to expect, little did I know I was about to experience one of the most thrilling and enjoyable single player games on the Xbox 360.

/* I feel I need to make clear that you DO NOT need to play the previous System Shock games to understand the story, these are completely different games */

So I popped the disc into the tray and sat in awe as I watched the introduction, this was without a doubt the most beautiful game I'd seen on the Xbox 360, and I couldn't wait for the intro to finish so I could begin playing. Finally, the introduction was over and I found myself surround by flames in the middle of the ocean, but I could see a small lighthouse, I headed there, and so began the story.

The story of Bioshock takes place in 1960, in the fictional underwater world of Rapture, created by Andrew Ryan to allow the worlds greatest minds to act or practice their beliefs, free from morals or judgment. However, the people of rapture discovered an organism called 'Adam', which allowed them to change their genetics, giving them super human abilities. After a while, a civil war began over the shortage of 'Adam', and as the people of rapture pushed themselves further with 'Adam' they became mutated -- or known in this game as Splicers, and so you, the player, are dropped into this underwater world, unaware of the danger that lurks below.

As you begin the story your helped along by an unnamed alias on the radio intercom, as you fight your way through rapture, trying too survive. You soon realize that if you're to survive in this world, you must mutate yourself giving you access to plasmids. Plasmids are the abilities you gain when using 'Adam', they are powered by another organism called to Eve. Plasmids range from shooting fire from your hand, to controlling machines and releasing bee's from your wrist. Plasmids are bought with 'Adam', which can only be found in Little Sister's(Your typical little girl), these are however protected by the Big Daddy (The Big Daddy is the large creature featured on the games box art).

To get to Little Sister you must kill the Big Daddy, after you've done this, which can be very tough, your faced with a very tough decision. Do you let the Little Sister live? and only receive a small amount of 'Adam', or Do you kill this Little Girl? and receive a lot of 'Adam'. This decision is made bigger due to the fact that there are multiple ending's based on your decision's.

Irrational Game's art department have done a stellar job on this title, with exceptional work done on the water, this is without a doubt, the best water in any gamer, ever. Everything is crisp and clear with very little hiccups in frame rate. The game also has its very own unique art style, making it instantly recognizable to anyone from the game world, It's almost as if your watching a CGI (Computer Generated Imagery) cartoon.

Every inch of this game has been done to a very high standard, the sound is incredible. Faucet's drip, your feet patter in the water, Splicers bang on doors as you pass. Again, the team seem have to done most work on the water, making sure the sound effects are as lifelike as possible, which helps draw the player in the world of Rapture all the more.

Unfortunately, perhaps the only downside to Bioshock is the lack of multiplayer. I do however believe the single player experience more than makes up for this and the developers were right to focus on creating an incredible single player experience.

The learning curve in Bioshock may seem fairly steep to new player's but the game helps you get to grips with the control scheme fairly well and you'll be having fun in no time.

I suppose the last thing to say is go buy this game, you won't regret it. It really is the best single player experience the Xbox 360 has to offer.

Other reviews for BioShock (Limited Edition) (Xbox 360)

Well I was disappointed with Bioshock. Everyone makes such a big deal out of it, how it's one of the best games ever and bla bla, but I just didn't get into it. Do I think it's a quality game? Yeah. But no matter how much quality there is in a game, if it doesn't hook me, it doesn't! I think one of the big failures of the game is that it didn't make me interested in its world. I just was never that curious about rapture and what had happened there. I had previously read somewhere some bits and p...